# Stateless (TV series)

Stateless is an Australian television drama series launched on ABC TV on 1 March 2020. The six episodes were released on Netflix on 8 July 2020.
The series is partly inspired by the real-life story of Cornelia Rau, an Australian who was unlawfully detained under the Australian Government's mandatory detention program.
The show has been criticized for misrepresenting the human rights issue of statelessness and disregarding the experiences of actual stateless people.

## Synopsis

The series centres on four strangers in an immigration detention centre in the Australian desert: an airline hostess escaping a suburban cult, an Afghan refugee fleeing persecution, a young Australian father escaping a dead-end job and a bureaucrat caught up in a national scandal. When their lives intersect they are pushed to the brink of sanity, yet unlikely and profound emotional connections are made amongst the group.
After the sixth and final episode, the epilogue states the program was based upon true stories about Australian immigration detention.

## Cast

* Yvonne Strahovski as Sofie Werner, a German-Australian flight attendant who struggles with mental health issues, based on Cornelia Rau
* Marta Dusseldorp as Margot Werner, Sofie’s responsible older sister
* Asher Keddie as Clare Kowitz, a representative of the Department of Immigration Management and Multicultural Affairs (DIMMA, based on DIMIA)
* Sarah Peirse as Assistant Secretary Genevieve Mundy, Clare’s superior at DIMMA in Canberra
* Dan Spielman as David Meakin, a journalist reporting on the Australian immigration policy and its effects
* Fayssal Bazzi as Ahmad Ameer, a refugee from Afghanistan
* Soraya Heidari as Mina, Ameer’s eldest daughter
* Jai Courtney as Off. Cameron ‘Cam’ Sandford, a new officer at Barton Immigration Detention Centre
* Maria Angelico as Angie Sandford, Cam’s wife
* Kate Box as Janice Sandford, Cam’s older sister who is critical of the Australian immigration policy
* Darren Gilshenan as Brian Ashworth, the general manager of Barton Immigration Detention Centre
* Rachel House as Off. Harriet Tawake, the cruel coordinator of the officers at Barton Immigration Detention Centre
* Clarence Ryan as Off. Sullivan, a close friend of Cam’s and a fellow officer at Barton Immigration Detention Centre
* Rose Riley as Off. Sharee Burton, a young officer at Barton Immigration Detention Centre
* Dominic West as Gordon Masters, co-founder of GOPA, based on Ken Dyers of Kenja Communication
* Cate Blanchett as Pat Masters, co-founder of GOPA, based on Jan Hamilton of Kenja Communication
* Claude Jabbour as Farid, an Arab refugee who befriends Ameer before ending up at Barton
* Kwame N. Kamara as Mosi, an African refugee who befriends Ameer before ending up at Barton
* Phoenix Raei as Javad Shahrokh, one of the refugees at Barton, who is separated from his family
* Helana Sawires as Rosna, a Kurdish refugee at Barton

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Australia viewers |
| 1 | "The Circumstances in Which They Come" | Emma Freeman | Elise McCredie | 1 March 2020 (2020-03-01) | 441,000 |
| 2 | "Incognita" | Emma Freeman | Elise McCredie | 8 March 2020 (2020-03-08) | 363,000 |
| 3 | "The Right Thing" | Emma Freeman | Belinda Chayko | 15 March 2020 (2020-03-15) | 390,000 |
| 4 | "Run Sofie Run" | Jocelyn Moorhouse | Elise McCredie | 22 March 2020 (2020-03-22) | 430,000 |
| 5 | "Panis Angelicus" | Jocelyn Moorhouse | Belinda Chayko | 29 March 2020 (2020-03-29) | 409,000 |
| 6 | "The Seventh Circle" | Jocelyn Moorhouse | Elise McCredie | 5 April 2020 (2020-04-05) | 469,000 |

## Production

The series is partly inspired by the real-life story of Cornelia Rau, an Australian who was unlawfully detained under the Australian Government's mandatory detention program.
Blanchett says that the title "refers to statelessness in a more poetic sense, not in a legal, physical sense. It's more about identity and the loss of people's identity when they are faced with long-term detention, when they become a number, when they are dislocated from markers in their life like home and culture, and separated from their families".
The music for the series was composed by Cornel Wilczek.

## Release

Stateless had its world premiere at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2020, in the new Series section, along with Mystery Road Series 2.
The Australian television channel ABC premiered the series in Australia soon afterwards, on 1 March 2020. Netflix released the series globally on 8 July 2020.

## Awards and nominations

The script for Episode 6 by Elise McCredie was shortlisted for the Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting at the 2021 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Miniseries or Telefeature | Cate Blanchett, Elise McCredie, Tony Ayres, Sheila Jayadev, Paul Ranford, Liz Watts, Andrew Upton | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Screenplay in Television | Elise McCredie (for "The Circumstances in Which They Come") | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama | Fayssal Bazzi | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama | Jai Courtney | Nominated |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama | Yvonne Strahovski | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama | Asher Keddie | Nominated |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama | Darren Gilshenan | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama | Cate Blanchett | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Direction in Television | Emma Freeman | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Direction in Television | Jocelyn Moorhouse | Nominated |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Cinematography in Television | Bonnie Elliott (for "The Circumstances in Which They Come") | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Editing in Television | Mark Atkin (for "The Circumstances in Which They Come") | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Editing in Television | Martin Connor (for "The Seventh") | Nominated |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Sound in Television | Tom Heuzenroeder, Pete Smith, Michael Darren, Des Kenneally (for "The Circumstances in Which They Come") | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Original Music Score in Television | Cornel Wilczek (for "The Seventh") | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Production Design in Television | Melinda Doring (for "The Circumstances in Which They Come") | Won |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Costume Design in Television | Mariot Kerr (for "The Circumstances in Which They Come") | Won |